X-Plane and Garmin Trainer
X-Plane is running on three Linux computers, and the Garmin 500 Series Trainer is running on a Windows laptop.
The Robinson R-22 simulator is flying over the Skagit River near Concrete, WA (3W5).

Background and Purpose

X-Plane is the very realistic flight simulator published by Laminar Research.
X-Plane comes with its own simulated panel-mounted GPS, but some people (including me) prefer to use a
more-fully-featured unit. This page is about using X-Plane with several possible competent GPS devices:

The Garmin GPS Trainers are Windows programs that are distributed by Garmin to help owners and
prospective owners learn how to use their popular panel-mounted GPS unit. The Trainer do almost everything that
the actual physical GPS does.

Actual hardware GPS devices, such as the Garmin GPSMAP 296, can also be used with X-Plane.

A third possibility is to use moving map software, such as FlightMaster or PocketFMS, running on a Palm Pilot
or other PDA.

X-Plane can be made to work with any of these devices (or even with all of them at the
same time). The purpose of this site is to make available in one place the necessary software. Much of the
software is old versions that are no longer supported or distributed by the authors, and so not easily available
elsewhere. I personally find the combination of X-Plane and the Garmin Trainer or some other GPS device to be
very useful for flight training, and want to keep the necessary resources available for others.

Most of the ways of using competent GPS devices with X-Plane require some additional software to communicate
betweeen X-Plane and the device. If you already know what software you want, you can download it from the list
on the right. If not, the configuration tool on the left can probably help you.

Troubleshooting

If you have problems with the installation or configuration,
help might be available. Many people have gotten one or more of
the setups discussed here to work, and some of them hang out at
the X-Plane.org forums. Try posting your problem description
there. If you want, send a link to your post to me at the contact
address below, and I'll weigh in if I'm able.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ben Russell (XNO2) and Kate Alhola (xudp) for showing the way, to Sandy Barbour for providing the
tools, and to Jim McNeill for providing a safe harbor for the GPS software at Shade Tree Micro Aviation for the
past several years.